1971 Chevy Corvette Stingray Project Car - First Impressions

This Month, We Make Our C3 Project Car A Little More Presentable

Whether attending a black-tie charity event, making a new professional acquaintance, or driving our Corvette to the local car show, we all like to make a favorable first impression. And while there's something to be said for a ratty-looking car with over-the-top performance, the fact is that most often our vehicles are initially judged by their appearance, not their horsepower. Such is the case with our most recent project car, a '71 Stingray we picked up on eBay for around $5,600. Granted, getting a running, driving chrome-bumper Stingray with an array of new suspension and drivetrain parts for this price was a good deal, so we didn't expect our purchase to be all that aesthetically pleasing-and we were right.

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There's no doubt that our Stingray appeared used-very used, in fact, with oxidized, over-sprayed paint and two missing center caps. We saw potential, however, so we decided to make our used Corvette look its best.

Though the car looked pretty bad when we picked it up, we knew we'd be able to improve it significantly with a little hard work and the right tools and products. Mechanically, the Vette was pretty sound, but we found several issues that needed to be addressed, in addition to some overdue maintenance tasks. Last month, we performed an overall vehicle inspection, took care of a few fluid changes, and corrected most of the electrical and mechanical issues so we could get the car back on the road. Now that our Stingray is a pretty reliable driver, we want it to be less of an eyesore while cruising the streets.

Although making our Corvette presentable seemed an insurmountable task at first, we could still discern considerable potential through the oxidized, over-sprayed, years-old paintjob. Under their own discolored, thinning paint, we also had a decent set of 15-inch GM Rally wheels to work with, albeit minus two center caps and all of the trim rings. The interior, meanwhile, was mostly complete, and the carpet, door panels, and dash cover were fairly new, having been replaced by the previous owner. The sunvisors were missing, though, and the red seats didn't exactly match the black color of the rest of the interior. Numerous minor defects littered the remainder of the cockpit. While these will make it tough to pull off a show-quality appearance, we'll do the best we can. The undercarriage, though rust-free and recently restored with new suspension bushings and brakes, was dirty and somewhat discolored, and it would benefit greatly from a fresh coat of paint.

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1971 Chevy Corvette Stingray Project Car - First Impressions

There's no doubt that our Stingray appeared used-very used, in fact, with oxidized, over-sprayed paint and two missing center caps. We saw potential, however, so we decided to make our used Corvette look its best.

After washing the car to remove any foreign particles, we began by wet-sanding. This step is only mandatory in extreme cases such as ours, where the car is covered in overspray.

If the paint is badly orange peeled, or has large scratches, you can begin wet-sanding with as rough as 1,000-grit paper. If the paint is thin, however, you risk sanding through the paint and ruining the finish. We began with 2,000-grit paper and lightly sanded the car to remove overspray.

When sanding a car, either while doing body work or wet-sanding paint, always use a sanding block. This foam block will prevent you from applying too much pressure and distorting the painted surface with finger marks.

Plenty of water must be used to carry away the paint, dirt, and grime that wet-sanding removes from the car. With this job comes the potential of sanding through the paint, so if you're not comfortable performing this task yourself, we suggest visiting a reputable paint shop and having it do the job for you.

For areas that are too tight or contoured, where using the sanding block isn't feasible, use the edge of your hand opposite your thumb to apply pressure. Though you may be tempted, don't use your fingers, as they can cause depressions, or finger marks, in the paint's surface.

Sanding large panels at 45-degree angles will make them look straighter once the job is finished. The key is to sand as little as possible to remove imperfections and the top layer of oxidized paint. Body lines should be avoided or protected with tape, as it's easy to sand through the finish at any sharp edge.

After towel drying the car, the paint will look dull and scratched from the sanding. Make sure the car is in the shade or the shop, and use a buffing pad and compound to remove the scratches left by the 2,000-grit paper.

We used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound to remove the 2,000-grit scratches, then buffed the car again with less-abrasive Meguiar's Deep Crystal polish. The technique is to use progressively less-harsh abrasives to make the scratches less noticeable.

Automotive paint buffers operate at a low speed, but it's still possible to burn through the paint by over-buffing or spinning the pad at too high an rpm. Again, extreme caution should be used around sharp edges or body lines.

The paint on our car is an older, single-stage-style job, so we can clearly see the color on the buffing pad. You can clean the pad somewhat using a spurring tool, but in our extreme case, we had to use two buffing pads to complete the work.

Use a clean cloth or microfiber towel between each stage of buffing, to remove any remaining compound. Do this after polishing as well.

With the paint actually looking good, we wanted to make sure the shine would last, so we applied a coat of Meguiar's Gold Class paste wax. While buffing the car removes the top layers of paint, it leaves the good paint unprotected and exposed to the elements. The car must therefore be waxed to protect the paint.

Now that the paint looked respectable, we moved on to the wheels. After removing the centers, we degreased and cleaned the wheels themselves, then sanded them with 320-grit sandpaper.

Instead of painting the wheels the proper Argent Silver color, we chose a charcoal metallic to provide a contrast with the car's black paint. While automotive-style paint is more durable, our Rust-oleum spray paint will look fine until we replace the wheels.

With the car on the lift, we also took the opportunity to clean the undercarriage, particularly the frame, and shoot it with a coat of satin-black spray paint.

Moving to the interior of our Stingray, we removed the red seats and used dye to change their color to a more appropriate black.

Having removed the kick panels to change the speakers, we took the opportunity to dye them black as well, covering the scuffs and scratches of normal use.

Last month we removed the instrument cluster to repair the oil-pressure gauge. Since the cluster was scratched up, we decided to paint it and clean up the lenses before reinstalling.

Always perform your paint work away from the car, not in the garage with it. This practice keeps overspray off of the car's finish.

While our instrument panel was disassembled, we used Meguiar's PlastX to polish the lenses. Plastic lenses get scratched and sun damaged over time, and this polish makes them clear again.

Our car came with an AM/FM/eight-track radio right out of the '70s. We plan to replace this system later, but for the time being, we wired it up and found that it actually works! Now if we could only find K.C. and the Sunshine Band's greatest hits on eight-track . . .

As a final touch, we searched eBay and purchased a pair of center caps to match the two that came with the car.

So how is our project car performing so far? Well enough for a little dragstrip grudge match with Heath's lightly modified LT1 C4. The results? All we can say is that while he works on his reaction times, we'll work on getting better rubber and making more power. Translation: He lost -Ed. See more pictures of our grudge race, and watch videos of our baseline test sessions, at www.vetteweb.com.

Inside, the car still has a suitably "vintage" patina, but at least the seat color matches, and the radio works. Later, we'll gut the interior in favor of a safer, more race-inspired version.

As you can see, we dramatically improved the looks of our Stingray with just a few days of hard work. Though not show worthy yet, we're at least slightly closer to meeting Editor Heath's standard of aesthetic stimulation.

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